The spiritual spring water was full.
Ah Jiu suddenly thought of her grandmother. With her grandmother gone, of the six waterskins of spiritual spring water, excluding the one lost on the mountain while catching snakes, there were five left.
Looking at the swirling water, Ah Jiu truly regretted it. Next time, if she had money, she would buy ten or eight and store them all.
"Dilong?" Ah Jiu peered closely into the spiritual spring's opening.
Not a ripple.
Ah Jiu grew anxious and reached her hand in, slowly searching.
Suddenly, her fingertips felt something slippery. She grabbed it and found the dilong as soft as noodles, just dangling loosely in Ah Jiu's palm. The water on the snake's body dripped back into the spiritual spring.
"Dilong?" Ah Jiu's heart suddenly choked up.
She let her arm hang down, placing the dilong on the ground. "Move, just a little bit, okay?"
"Ninth Miss..."
Ah Jiu jolted awake.
"We are truly presumptuous. We have an urgent matter to inform you of." Eunuch Zhou knocked on the door outside. Ah Jiu rose to open it, causing him to pause slightly.
"Meng Jiuer, why are you crying?"
Ah Jiu then felt a tickle on her face and wiped it away haphazardly. "It's nothing, Eunuch Zhou. What is it?"
"This is truly great news." Eunuch Zhou straightened his back, thinking that after two trips to the Yi Zhuang, such a young girl would naturally be timid and likely crying from fright.
"The three people you saved are all alive. This servant has already sent word to His Highness. His Highness has specially bestowed a set of Xuanbing Needles as a gift to the divine doctor, Miss Meng."
"I have needles, I don't need them." What she longed for most at this moment was to go home, to find her grandmother.
Didn't he say before that he could cure Father's heatstroke, and the dilong could also be cured? At worst, he could give her all the spiritual spring water.
"Hey, hey, hey, Miss Meng, this is personally bestowed by His Highness... bestowed..."
Before Eunuch Zhou could finish speaking, the girl had already left.
"Where is Brother Yun? Where is Yun Hao?" Ah Jiu went out and saw that the official carriage was gone.
From behind, Eunuch Zhou caught up. "Ninth Miss, why didn't you accept? How can I report back?"
Ah Jiu was in a hurry. There was snake venom at the Yi Zhuang, and her sister-in-law was more skilled at extracting it, having even taught her ear acupuncture. Ah Jiu wasn't worried at all.
Right now, all she wanted was to go home.
"Just say it was a small effort. By the way..."
Ah Jiu's eyes darted, and she suddenly thought of a solution. "Eunuch Zhou, if you are going to reward me, can I make another request?"
"This... you tell me first. If it's not a major matter, given your current merits, I will certainly consider it for you."
Eunuch Zhou had also been kicked to this Nan Zhou County to supervise the progress. If everyone was cured, he could leave this godforsaken place.
"Can you arrange for me to go home now?" Ah Jiu's eyes were full of longing.
"Hiss." Eunuch Zhou gasped. He himself had thought of this request eight hundred times but never dared to voice it.
"But His Highness has ordered that we can only return to the city after there are results. Don't mention you, Jiuer, I want to go back too."
Eunuch Zhou wore a troubled expression, clearly wanting to flee even more than Ah Jiu.
Ah Jiu fell into thought. It seemed she couldn't leave.
Ah Jiu counted on her fingers. Even if the three king cobras attracted by the dilong took turns for their venom, it would take until the month after next to cure everyone.
"Are you in such a hurry to go back because of an urgent family matter?"
"What's the use of an urgent matter if I can't go back immediately?" Ah Jiu's mood sank.
If Xiao Yanyan were here, he would at least run errands for her at any cost.
"This is different. I cannot make the decision about your return, but I can send someone to help resolve your urgent family matters. This way, you can stay here and save people with peace of mind."
"Really? That's wonderful." Ah Jiu's eyes lit up.
"Wonderful what?"
A carriage stopped, and Liu Cai'er jumped down spiritedly. "Eunuch Zhou, a method of treatment has now been found. There's no reason to keep my sister here anymore."